2002 Raghunath Temple bombings refers to two fidayeen attacks in 2002 on the

Raghunath Temple Raghunath Temple is a Hindu temple located in Jammu in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It consists of a complex of seven Hindu shrines. Raghunath Temple was constructed by the first Dogra ruler Maharaja Gulab Singh in the y ...

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Built by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1860, the Raghunath temple is dedicated to

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

God

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

March attack

The first attack occurred on 30 March 2002 when two suicide bombers attacked the temple. Eleven people including three security personnel were killed and 20 were injured. The attack occurred around 10:20 AM when the terrorists arrived, fired at the guards, and killed them on the spot. The attackers stormed the temple, threw a grenade, and fired indiscriminately at the worshippers. After expending his ammunition one of the attackers who was wearing a suicide vest blew himself up. Then Minister of State for External Affairs of India,

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the chief minister of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He had previously served as the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between 2009 and ...

, blamed

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

for the terrorist attacks on the Raghunath temple in Jammu and ruled out withdrawing troops from the border, saying

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

had done nothing to warrant it.

November attack

A second attacked occurred on 24 November 2002 when two suicide bombers stormed the temple and killed 14 devotees and injured 45 others. Witnesses said terrorists hurled grenades and fired indiscriminately on the heavily guarded Raghunath temple. India blamed a Pakistan-based militant group,

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist militant organization driven by a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist ideology. The organisation's primary stated objective is to merge the whole of Kashmir with Pakistan. It was founded in 19 ...

, for the attack. Deputy Prime Minister

Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak San ...

of India blamed the chief of the

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani militant and religious preacher convicted of terrorism. He co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is List of designated terrorist groups, de ...

for the attack. He was released shortly prior to the attack by the government of Pakistan. The personnel of

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CRPF assists states and Union Territories in maintaining law and order and internal security. It is composed of the Cent ...

Yatindra Nath Rai, Assistant Commandant, Dev Singh, Head Constable, E.G. Rao, Head Constable, T. A. Singh, Constable, and Late K. K. Pandey, Constable displayed conspicuous gallantry, courage and devotion to duty of a high order.Printed in ''The Gazette of India'', 17 December 2005 Late K K Pandey was posthumously awarded the President's Police Medal for Gallantry. Yatindra Nath Rai, Dev Singh, E. G. Rao and T. A. Singh were awarded the Police Medal for Gallantry.

References

External links

In pictures: Kashmir temple attack

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 220-11-25
Website of the Temple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raghunath Temple attacks, 2002 21st-century mass murder in India Mass murder in 2002 Suicide bombings in India Suicide bombings in 2002 Attacks on Hindu temples in Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Hindu violence in Kashmir 2000s in Jammu and Kashmir Terrorist incidents in India in 2002 2002 building bombings Mass shootings in Jammu and Kashmir Terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir March 2002 in India November 2002 in India 2002 mass shootings in Asia 2002 murders in India Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 Hindu temple bombings

March attack

November attack

See also

References

External links